Week 8: Taper and Your 3.5km Time Trial
The advanced block finishes where it promised: 3,500m nonstop. Two sharpening swims to clear the fatigue of peak week, then the longest unbroken swim of the program. Done in Salty Johnson recycled ocean plastic swimwear, which has now covered about 28km with you and shows it less than you do.
Week 8 at a glance: 2 taper sessions plus 1 time trial · 25m pool · volume down 35 percent · the 3.5km is the whole point.
Session 1: Sprint (2,200m, ~65 min)
Introduction: Race pace work on long rest, sharp legs and arms without accumulating fatigue.
- Warm-up: 400m freestyle, 200m choice.
- Main Set: 8x50m at race pace, 45s rest; 4x100m at race pace, 60s rest.
- Cool-down: 800m easy.
Technique: Match your target 100m split exactly, four times. Precision, not effort.
Tips: The long cool-down is deliberate, flushing matters more than another hard set this week.
Motivation: Taper week is where eight weeks of work finally surfaces!
Session 2: Mixed Strokes/IM (2,000m, ~60 min)
Introduction: Easy IM to keep the shoulders balanced ahead of a long freestyle effort.
- Warm-up: 600m (200m freestyle/200m IM order drill/200m kick).
- Main Set: 4x200m IM easy, 45s rest.
- Cool-down: 600m easy.
Technique: Aerobic only. If you are breathing hard, you are doing this session wrong.
Tips: Take two full rest days between this and the time trial.
Motivation: Discipline this week is harder than the hard sets were!
Session 3: Endurance (3,500m nonstop time trial, ~95 min)
Introduction: 3,500m continuous freestyle. No walls off, no set breaks, one number at the end.
- Warm-up: 400m easy freestyle with 6x25m build.
- Main Set: 3,500m continuous freestyle. Record splits every 500m.
- Cool-down: 200m very easy.
Technique: Set stroke rate in the first 300m and defend it for the remaining 3,200m.
Tips: Take a feed or a mouthful of water at 1,750m if your pool allows it, exactly as you would mid-race.
Motivation: Three and a half kilometres unbroken. Very few people in any pool today will do that!
What to do after week 8
Take four to five easy days, then choose your target. Repeat the block chasing a faster 3.5km, enter a 5km ocean swim while the aerobic base is fresh, or move outdoors permanently. Our free Salty Sundays community run, swim and coffee in Bondi is where a lot of that pool fitness finds a better use.
Salty Johnson Spotlight: Twenty eight kilometres of chlorine in eight weeks is a brutal test of fabric, and it is the test ours is built for. Women's one-pieces and men's board shorts in recycled ocean plastic with UPF 50+, made for people who actually swim. Grab yours at www.saltyjohnson.com.au/collections/sustainable-womens-one-piece-swimsuits for her or www.saltyjohnson.com.au/collections/board-shorts for him.
Twenty eight kilometres and eight weeks later, still holding shape, unlike your post time trial posture!
Advanced swim workout questions, answered
What is a good 3.5km swim time?
For an advanced swimmer, 50 to 62 minutes, roughly 1:25 to 1:45 per 100m. Even 500m splits matter more than the headline number.
How should I taper before a long swim?
Cut volume by 30 to 40 percent, keep short race pace work, and take two rest days in the final five. Intensity maintains sharpness, volume is what causes the fatigue you are trying to clear.
Should I feed during a 3.5km pool swim?
If it takes you over 50 minutes, practise a single feed around halfway. Rehearsing it in the pool means it will not feel novel during a 5km or 10km open water event.
What should I train after this block?
Either an open water specific block with more continuous swimming and sighting, or a speed block with shorter, faster sets if you race 400m to 1500m. Repeating an identical block a third time is where most plateaus begin.
Keep the series going
- Previous: Advanced Week 7, Peak Volume (3,400m)
- Start again: Advanced Week 1 (2,500m)
- Dial it back: Intermediate Week 8 (1.5km time trial)
- All free plans: Salty Johnson swim workouts and Salty Sundays in Bondi